Method of and apparatus for cooling an operating system using the Peltier effect

1. An operating system comprising: a housing having an opening therethrough, said housing constituting a boundary past which physical objects are prevented from entering the housing from outside the housing; a plurality of operating units disposed in said housing, said plurality of units generating heat when operating; a temperature sensor which detects the temperature inside of said housing; a Peltier module mounted in said opening and hermetically sealed therein to said housing, said Peltier module having a cooling chip having a first surface facing the inside of said housing and a second surface facing the outside of said housing, said cooling chip comprising two dissimilar metals contacting each other at a junction and producing a Peltier effect when electric current passes through said junction, the Peltier effect causing said first surface of the cooling chip to absorb heat and said second surface of the chip to radiate heat when the electric current flows through said junction in one direction, whereby air in a region adjacent said first surface is cooled; a fan having a variable speed motor and disposed in said housing for forcing the air in said region throughout the interior of said housing; and a control module including a common source of electric power to which said fan and said Peltier module are connected in parallel, said control module being operatively connected to said temperature sensor so as to compare the temperature detected by said temperature sensor with a predetermined reference temperature, and to supply the cooling chip of said Peltier module with a direct current flowing in said one direction and the variable speed motor of said fan with current in an amount proportional to that supplied to the cooling chip when the detected temperature is higher than said predetermined reference temperature.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fan is disposed adjacent said Peltier module.

3. A method of cooling an operating system having units which generate heat when operating, and a housing in which said units are disposed, the housing constituting a boundary past which physical objects are prevented from entering the housing from outside the housing, said method comprising the steps of: detecting the temperature within said housing; comparing the detected temperature with a predetermined reference temperature; if the detected temperature is higher than the predetermined reference temperature, passing electric current through a junction of two dissimilar metals of a Peltier chip, provided in a module mounted in an opening in the housing, in a direction that gives rise to a Peltier effect in which a first surface of the chip facing the inside of the housing will absorb heat and a second surface of the chip exposed to the outside of the housing will radiate heat to cool air in a region adjacent the first surface; and at the same time electric current is supplied to the Peltier chip, driving a fan at a rate proportional to a cooling performance of the Peltier chip to distribute the air in said region throughout the housing, by delivering electric current to said fan and to said Peltier chip from a common source of electric power.

4. The method according to claim 3, and further comprising the steps of: detecting the temperature within said housing again once a predetermined amount of time has elapsed from when the electric current is first supplied to the Peltier chip and the fan; and comparing the newly detected temperature with the predetermined reference temperature, and supplying the Peltier chip and the fan with a direct current that is greater than that supplied said first time if the newly detected temperature is higher than the predetermined reference temperature.

5. The method according to claim 4, and further comprising the step of cutting off the supply of direct current to the Peltier chip and the fan when the temperature in the housing becomes lower than the predetermined reference temperature.